Truist launches an innovation arm to speed up product development
Illustration: Gabriella Turrisi/Axios
Truist Financial has launched an innovation arm called Truist Foundry, the bank tells Axios exclusively.
Why it matters: The Charlotte-based bank, formed through the 2019 merger of BB&T and SunTrust Bank, is looking to instill a startup mentality and launch new products while operating in a highly regulated environment.
Details: Truist Foundry is being led by Lindsay Holden, founder of mobile savings and financial literacy app Long Game, which the financial institution acquired earlier this year.
- “We're taking business, design, product, engineering, and putting them all in small teams within the technology org,” she says, “and that enables us to take something from ideation all the way to production and bring really cool projects faster to market.” The group has around 45 employees.
Of note: Prior to the Truist deal, Long Game had raised $20 million from investors like Thrive Capital and Collaborative Fund.
Between the lines: Ken Meyer, chief innovation officer at Truist, said after the merger, backlogs would be so full that innovation would be the first thing to get cut.
- “We want to create stuff, and we want to build things," he said. “It's really nice to be able to have a founder of a startup actually help us build this."
What’s next: The first product to come from the Foundry is a relaunch of the Long Game app, rebranded Truist Long Game, which will arrive early next year and help the bank attract new customers and help existing users build their savings.
